Pyari ‘threatens’ to field candidates in all 147 Assembly seats

True to his style, Odisha Jana Morcha (OJM) president Pyari Mohan Mohapatra on Sunday thundered that his party would field candidates in all 147 Assembly seats in Odisha if it is not included in the proposed ‘Maha Menta’ (Grand Alliance).

Pyari Mohan Mohapatra

“If we are not part of a ‘Maha Menta’, we will field candidates in all 147 Assembly seats in the state,” Mohapatra told media persons here.

Asked if he had been invited for talks with senior BJP leaders Arun Jaitley and Chandan Mitra during their visit to the city tomorrow, the OJM chief said; “I cannot tell the media whether I have received an invite or not.”

Mohapatra, who has been a consistent and forceful proponent of a Grand Alliance to defeat the BJD in the coming elections, recently accused ruling party boss and chief minister Naveen Patnaik of conspiring to keep him out of an alliance after the prospects of such an alliance appeared to be fizzling out due to stiff resistance from senior state leaders of the BJP.